(image from IMDb)
It's impossible to say the word "radar" in American culture without invoking two things - & I'll completely understand if this is not the case for millennials or later - one of these is the song "Radar Love" by Golden Earring, & the other is the character of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H.
As a kid, I was inordinately fond of Radar. You might never guess why. I didn't possess his seeming telepathic gift to anticipate what someone wanted. I wasn't very naïve though I was quite shy. & I really wasn't a sheltered child. My fondness for animals wouldn't really develop till later, when I was around more of them, though I did envy his menagerie. None of these reasons were why I liked Radar. The reason I liked him was kinda dumb: I knew his real name was Gary.
Gary Burghoff portrayed Radar O'Reilly & I knew this because I read credits. When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader of everything including words on a TV screen & I loved to connect the actor to the name. & here was someone on television with the same name as me.
& listen, then as now, Gary wasn't a popular name. I have known only a handful of other Garys in my life. When I was in elementary school, teachers & other kids were so unfamiliar with the name that I was often called "Greg." It just made sense that I'd glom onto any other Gary out there. It really did help that he was such a sweet character. If other kids had wanted to call me "Radar," I wouldn't have minded. But I had so few friends, I never even had a nickname.
There's one weird memory I have of the show. On one touching episode, which must've aired when I was just seven or eight years old, Radar's family in - is it Iowa? - send him a film from home. The main characters watch it, & Gary Burghoff dons a dress to play his own mother. A child's mind works in weird ways, & mine was somewhat freaked out by the fact that Radar's mother looked so much like him. I remember staring at my own mother, who was watching with me, & thinking, "When I get older, will I look like her?"
Yes, there'll be Radar O'Reilly content on the show tomorrow. As well as "Radar Love." How could there not be? Sorry, millennials.
& listen, then as now, Gary wasn't a popular name. I have known only a handful of other Garys in my life. When I was in elementary school, teachers & other kids were so unfamiliar with the name that I was often called "Greg." It just made sense that I'd glom onto any other Gary out there. It really did help that he was such a sweet character. If other kids had wanted to call me "Radar," I wouldn't have minded. But I had so few friends, I never even had a nickname.
There's one weird memory I have of the show. On one touching episode, which must've aired when I was just seven or eight years old, Radar's family in - is it Iowa? - send him a film from home. The main characters watch it, & Gary Burghoff dons a dress to play his own mother. A child's mind works in weird ways, & mine was somewhat freaked out by the fact that Radar's mother looked so much like him. I remember staring at my own mother, who was watching with me, & thinking, "When I get older, will I look like her?"
Yes, there'll be Radar O'Reilly content on the show tomorrow. As well as "Radar Love." How could there not be? Sorry, millennials.
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